2005 DIAMOND CUP

On July 10^th Classic Thunder held its 2005 Diamond Cup at Coulon Park in Renton, WA.  The water conditions were unexpectedly mild for Coulon and we got cloud cover for the majority of the warm day.  The jet skis and pleasure boats sent some rollers our way, but overall we were pleasantly surprised with our good fortune.  We wasted no time taking advantage of it as the racing was wide open most of the day.  The event was sponsored by Classic Thunder and prizes were provided by Jeff Howard and the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum.  Thanks to them and everyone else who pitched in to help make this event run smoothly.

Division 2 kicked off the day with fast and furious racing and never let up.  These boats have really been providing some exciting moments of deck-to-deck racing.  At the end of the day, we saw a milestone achieved.  The big yellow boat brought home the bacon for the third race in a row!  Pete Schille’s Llumar Window Film was closely challenged all day long, but came out on top in the Final Heat ahead of Mitch Dillard’s Miller High Life to cap the three-pete.  A season that started out slowly has certainly reached full stride for the Llumar.  John Dyer brought out his 76 Atlas Van Lines and quietly put her on the podium with a steady third place finish.  Circus Circus battled with the Miller for a few laps and then battled with a buoy.  The buoy won and Danny Sacry was forced to drive an extra lap, earning him a strong fourth place finish.    Mike Schultz raced his Oh Boy! Oberto to a fifth place finish from the trailer spot to round out the field.  Jeff Howard’s Elam started the heat, but was a victom of Coulon’s backstretch “Bermuda Triangle”.  The boat unexpectedly stuffed its nose after taking a wicked hop and was unable to finish.  He’ll get her dried out and back out front in no time.  Good racing guys!  Congratulations to Pete Schille’s Llumar Window Film, winner of the 2005 Classic Thunder Diamond Cup in Division 2!

Fast racing in the Division 1 Final Heat resulted in a bit of a milestone too.  Chris Cootsona’s Hurricane VI made it to the winner’s circle for the first time in this, it’s first season of racing.  This is the first boat that Chris scratch built himself and that makes it that much sweeter.  Good job Chris!  The Cane VI took over the lead when Mitch Dillard’s Miss U.S. swapped ends coming off of the first turn on lap 3.  The next four boats, which also included Pete Schille’s Blue Chip, Bill McGraw’s outrigger Pay’n Pak and Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser passed by before it was safe for the U.S. to get going again.  Dale Van Wyk’s Miss Seattle became another victom of the “Triangle” as he went over at the end of  the backstretch on lap 2 and did not finish.   A battle for second place ended with a collision between the Blue Chip, which spun out in turn 1 of the final lap and the Pay’n Pak, which was right behind when the spin occurred.  The Pak was undamaged and was able to soldier on to a second place finish.  The Blue Chip was not as fortunate and sustained some damage.  She was able to drive back in, but without the dummy motor, which was knocked off and later retrieved.  Jeff Howard came around to take third place with the Bud and Miss U.S. was able to salvage a fourth place finish.  Congratulations to Chris Cootsona’s Hurricane VI, winner of the 2005 Classic Thunder Diamond Cup in Division 1!  This class of racing is really close too and you can bet there will be much more good racing in the remaining 4 races of the season. 

Race #7 is next.  It’s the 2005 Apple Cup at Lake Waughop, which is in Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, WA.   The event is sponsored by Mitch Dillard and should be the site of some more fast action.  It’s all about having good times, good company and enjoying the boats.   Thank you for making Classic Thunder a really cool club to be a part of.  We all know that competition doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to.  By its very nature, it will not always seem just and will at times frustrate and disappoint us.  Boats don’t always work right, judgment calls don’t always go the way we think they should and sometimes we drop our transmitters in the water.  What we all need to remember is that mistakes will be made.  I think we do our best to keep things in perspective and have learned racing issues should never become personal.  We will continue to make adjustments and strive to keep up with the things that come up.  You’ve been doing a good job with it and I really appreciate that.  It really helps the club stay on track.  When a problem comes up, we try and solve it together and move on.  When you think of something that you think we could benefit from, write it down.  Send it to me.  There might be a constructive idea out there that we can use.  Maybe it’s yours.  Please remember that and let us know about it.  Now, on to some more fabulous CT racing!  See you at the Apple Cup on July 24^th.  Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Mitch Dillard

Classic Thunder Commissioner